One Clue
by Jemimah Puddleduck
Summary: She threw her yo-yo, and jumped with all her strength, but the repeated exercise was rapidly wearing her down. Throw, jump, land, sight and throw again. Paris needed her. She couldn't let anyone down. Ladybug gasped as she slipped, her yo-yo sliding through her fingers. The ground rushed up towards her... "Chat," she called weakly, before her eyes closed.
1. One Clue

One Clue

Hi guys! Just a little story... this is my first Ladybug story, so please review and tell me how I can improve, and if you'd like to see anything else like this! Story prompts and suggestions are most appreciated.

Thanks!

The Dancing Princess

Marinette sighed heavily and dumped her bag on her desk. She slid into her seat, and her head sank on to her arms, hiding her face from the watching class. Marinette was late for class. Again.

Alya turned around, fixing an annoyed glare on her face, daring anyone to jeer at poor Marinette, who was obviously exhausted. The many eyes at once turned away, no one willing to subject themselves to the wrath of Alya. Alya turned back, and, waiting till the class had continued, nudged Marinette.

"Pst! Mari!" she whispered softly. Marinette groaned at the constant elbowing, and sat up. She turned to Alya, already knowing what she was going to say. "What's wrong? You've come in late everyday this week!" Alya paused, and yawned. This week had been tiring for her too. There had been Akumas every night this week, and Alya had diligently gone out to record Ladybug and Chat Noir battling them.

Marinette shook her head. "I overslept again. I just can't seem to fall asleep at night these past few days." She covered a yawn with the back of her hand and slumped down on her desk again. Hawkmoth seemed to have no shortage of victims this week, she thought foggily.

Alya grinned and nudged Marinette again. "Bet it's because you're thinking about Adriennnnnn..." Marinette rolled her eyes, blushing even though it wasn't true. Alya gleefully giggled, thinking her blush was a confession.

"Alya, I wasn't!" Marinette tried to protest, but Alya just giggled again.

Her last giggle must have been a little loud, because the teacher gave them a stern look, and both Marinette and Alya quickly busied themselves with their geography.

Marinette flopped tiredly onto her bed, and Tikki flew out our her purse to hover anxiously over her head. Marinette had somehow managed to get through the day, although she had tripped over once every ten minutes, had tipped her bag all over the ground twice, and when Adrien had said goodbye, she'd simply stared blearily through him, as if he wasn't even there. Oddly, Adrien hadn't exactly been his usual self either. He'd tripped over several times, and answered questions with single word responses. Nino had mentioned it to Alya, but she'd brushed it off.

"Adrien's a Ladybug fan, right? He probably stayed up watching the live-stream of their battles!" Nino had agreed. Adrien was totally a Ladybug fanboy.

"Marinette!" Tikki's gentle voice cut through the fog clouding Marinette's mind. "I'm sorry, but we have to keep going! Patrol tonight won't be as hard as fighting, I promise," Tikki softly patted Marinette's hair. Surely Hawkmoth could have picked a different time, with so many attacks all in one week?

Marinette heaved herself upright. "But Tikki, you're exhausted too! How long can you keep this up? Paris needs you, but you have to stay safe and well."

Tikki sighed. "You're so sweet, Marinette, but I'm an god. I can recharge with a cookie and a nap. But you need sleep! Come on, we can make tonight's patrol shorter, and then you can have a proper rest."

Marinette nodded. "Tikki, spots on!" And with a flash and a blur of light, Ladybug slipped out of the window.

By the time Marinette appeared on the rooftop of the meeting spot, Chat Noir was already there.

"My lady!" he said, as Ladybug sank to the ground, concern written all over his face. "Are you alright?" He rushed forward, but Ladybug lifted her hand to stop him.

"I'm fine Chat, just tired."

Chat Noir anxiously looked at her. She most certainly didn't look fine. Sure, he was tired too, but Ladybug had obviously worn herself out. He cursed Hawkmoth silently. Ladybug was already panting, and they hadn't even started patrol.

"But my lady, you look _pawsitivly_ exhausted! _Purrhaps_ I could do patrol alone tonight?" he offered, kneeling by her, trying to cheer her up with his puns. But Ladybug was having none of it.

"I'm fine. Paris needs me." Ladybug squared her shoulders determinedly. With that, she sprang up and threw her yo-yo, swinging away. Chat Noir hesitated a moment, before he followed her, being sure to watch her carefully. If his lady were to collapse, what could he possibly do?

Ladybug could really feel the effect of her exhaustion as she swung and leapt through Paris. The Ladybug suit emphasised all her skills, but it also emphasised her tiredness. She threw her yo-yo, and jumped with all her strength, but the repeated exercise was rapidly wearing her down.

Throw, jump, land, sight and throw again. Paris needed her. She couldn't let anyone down.

Ladybug gasped as she slipped, her yo-yo sliding through her fingers. She had been so focused on moving as swiftly as she could that she'd mistimed a throw. The ground rushed up towards her, the wind shrieking in her face as she frantically tried to grab something, anything to stop her headlong plummet. It felt like she was falling in slow motion, and she heard a yell, and vaguely, in a separated corner of her mind, realised it was Chat.

"Chat..." Ladybug called weakly, as her eyes closed.

The instant before she hit the ground, Ladybug felt something grab her and lift her upwards, away from that terrible drop. She grasped desperately at her saviour as her heart gradually calmed. Ladybug looked up to see Chat Noir, holding her tightly, as he resolutely bounded towards the Eiffel Tower. She weakly clasped her hands around his neck, too tired to even care.

Never, in the whole of Adrien's life, had he ever experienced the terror that he did at that moment. Ladybug, his Ladybug, had been falling, and he almost hadn't got there in time. His relief in grabbing her, lifting her up and holding her tight was so great, but what now? She was in no state to continue patrol, and her kwami would definitely need to recharge. As he bounded up the iconic tower, Chat Noir considered his options.

Option one, he could cover his eyes as Ladybug transformed and gave her kwami something to eat, and then take her somewhere where she could rest without taking her to her home. If her house was familiar, then her identity would be at risk.

Option two, he took her to a public place, away from both their homes and they found a place to transform, without seeing each other, and without anyone seeing them. Then Ladybug could feed her kwami, and then go home herself. But after seeing that terrible fall, Chat Noir wanted to make sure she got home safely. Ladybug was in no state to travel around, and trying to get anywhere alone by herself could be dangerous.

As he reached the platform where they often sat after patrol, he gently set Ladybug down and lent her against a beam. She closed her eyes, and he sat next to her, looking into her face with concern. He came to a decision. Option one was the only way to go. He couldn't let her try to find her own way home, if was too risky. She was clearly overworked, and he would blame himself if she was injured in anyway before she reached her home. Chat peered at her pale face and took her hand.

"My Lady... are you okay?"

Ladybug nodded slowly. "Yeah... give me a minute...I'll just.." she trailed off, her head leaning back against the beam. Chat sat down next to her, taking her hand.

"Ladybug, you scared this cat out of one of his nine lives!" he joked weakly, laughing out of relief, rather than at the joke. Ladybug didn't reply, and he sighed. Ladybug, the girl he cared so much about, had nearly been seriously injured... or worse. Chat gulped, shaking that terrible thought from his mind, and stood up, touching Ladybug gently on her shoulder. She opened her bluebell eyes and stared up at him, unseeing at first, but eventually looking straight at him.

"My lady, we have to go. You need to rest before Hawkmoth sends another akuma."

Ladybug nodded, and Chat gently lifted her again. This time, Ladybug protested, insisting that she could walk, she was fine. But Chat held her firmly.

"Bugaboo, I am not risking you falling again. Now..." He stood for a moment, thinking. "My lady, do you attend school?" That was a safe enough question. He was pretty sure she was school aged.

"Yeah," Ladybug said quietly, her eyes questioning. Where was this going?

"And do you walk to school?"

Again, Ladybug nodded. "Yeah, I live right acr-"

"No no no, don't tell me!" Chat interrupted quickly. "I'll just take you to your school!" he beamed at her, please with his idea. "That way you're close to where you live, but not close enough for me to work it out! Your identity is safe. Now, where is your school?"

He listened carefully as Ladybug described it, and his eyes widened. Ladybug noticed.

"What's wrong Chat? Do you know where it is?"

"Yeah, I do," he admitted quietly. "I go to that school."

For a moment they just stared at each other. Finally Ladybug broke the silence. "Do you think we know each other in our normal lives?" she asked hesitantly.

Chat shook his head. "I don't know," he answered honestly, "But I would hope I knew you well enough to recognise you." Ladybug shook her head too.

"No Chat. I'm different when I'm not Ladybug. I'm clumsy and a total dorkasaurus. I can't even talk to the boy I like. I'm a klutz. I drop things everywhere, I come in late to class, and my best friend is always having to help me."

Chat's heart dropped as he listened. Not only because she'd mentioned that she liked someone else, but also because his lady was putting herself down.

"My lady," he started, but Ladybug stopped him.

"Chat, please just take me there." Chat paused, then nodded, taking off towards the school.

When at last they reached the school, Chat Noir set Ladybug down, and stepped away.

"Ladybug?" he asked her quietly. She looked up. "If we do go to the same school... could you please give me a sign?" As Ladybug tilted her head in confusion, he elaborated. "Have you ever been to the corner of the library with the yellow streaks?" he tried, referring to a part of the library that had been half painted before an akuma struck, and the job hadn't been finished.

Ladybug nodded. "Well, I'll go there at the start of the day, and put something there." He saw her start to ask, and stopped her. "Yeah, I don't know what, but something. You'll know it when you see it, I promise. Then at lunch time, you go there, take what I've left, and at the end of the day, I'll go see what you left."

Ladybug tilted her head. "Okay," she said slowly. "But why?"

Chat Noir took a breath. "I've been thinking about it for a while, and I think we should reveal our identities. Not all at once, but just give little suggestions, and see if we can figure it out. My lady, I want to know the civilian you." Chat Noir finally looked into her eyes. She was doubtful, but eventually agreed.

"I've been thinking it might be time too. You showed me you could be trusted." Ladybug shuddered at the memory of that close fall. "You were there for me. And you've always been there for me. I-I know I can trust you. We could help each other better if we knew who we were helping." She gave a tired grin. "I'll leave something that is related to me as a civilian, and you do the same. That can be our first clue! But only one clue. That's it. We still have to be careful of Hawkmoth. Only one." Chat Noir nodded eagerly and took her hand. He knelt, kissing it and stood.

"Until then, Bugaboo!" he said cheerfully, with his two fingered salute. "Get home safe!" And with that, he was gone, vanishing to the top of the school, leaping across the roofs.

Ladybug watched him go, then released her transpiration, catching a tired Tikki in both hands and beginning the short walk home. Marinette was excited. And she couldn't wait till tomorrow.

"Oh, Tikki, what shall I give him?" she squealed happily, her tiredness partly forgotten. Above the school, Chat was thinking the same thing.


	2. Adrien's Clue

One Clue

 **Hi friends!**

 **Thank you soooooo much to everyone who read my last story! I was really hesitant about posting it, but I did, and I'm glad you liked it!**

 **Here is the next part... Any suggestions for the next chapter?  
~The Dancing Princess**

Marinette walked quickly up the short flight of stairs into the school. Alya spotted her almost immediately and zoned in, like a bumble bee zipping through the air.

"Marinette! What is the reason for this?" she asked, enthusiastically.

Marinette frowned. "What? Is something different?" Unconsciously, she clutched the package she was holding a little tighter.

"Um, yeah something's different, girl! You like never get to school on time, and now you' re ten minutes early?"

Marinette shrugged, trying to play it off like it was nothing. "Oh, I just woke up earlier. And what about you? Since when have you been coming ten minutes earlier?"

Alya grinned slightly. "Oh, you know, just because," she said, waving her hand airily and avoiding eye contact. But a hand was flung over her shoulder and Nino's cheerful face appeared above hers.

"Coz she's hangin' with me! Isn't that right, babe?" he smirked at Alya and she rolled her eyes.

"Okay, yeah, I've been chilling with Nino. But that's not such a biggie, coz we're together."

Marinette nodded, but Nino held up a hand with a disbelieving expression.

"It's no biggie that you're hanging out with me? With Nino, the one and only? Girl, I'm surprised. Obviously, I'm being taken for granted."

Alya laughed. "Drama King."

Nino just laughed with her. Then his face widened in a smile. "Dude! What's up bro?"

Marinette gave a start of surprise as Adrien came up behind her. "Hey Nino! Alya, Marinette," he nodded at them politely.

Nino held out his hand for a fist bump, but Adrien waved it off. "Sorry bro, my fist bumps are for only one person. Besides, my hands are full," he spread his hands, showing a package, wrapped in brown paper, and his jacket.

Marinette, who had blushed bright red the moment Adrien had appeared, managed to grasp this fact. Adrien doesn't do fist bumps? Hm, she hadn't read anything about that in the stalking she'd done online. Who was that one person?

Nino, however, seemed used to it. "Sure dude, whatever." Then he glanced down at what Adrien was holding. "What's that?" he asked him bluntly.

"Ohhh, that," Adrien laughed nervously, lowering the hand holding the package. "Just something." Nino didn't pursue that matter any further, but a raised eyebrow told Adrien that they would be discussing this later, when the girls weren't around. Adrien looked down at the package and smiled to himself as he walked off.

"I've just got a few things to attend to before class," he called back to his friends. Adrien was worried that they would ask him what, but they just nodded and resumed talking. Well, except Marinette. She was still bright red and staring after him. He darted off to the side. Marinette. She really was sweet. Even if she was ridiculously shy.

The librarian called a greeting as he entered, and he waved at her. Heading off towards the corner, he stopped. Where could he put the package so that it wasn't obvious to anyone who wasn't looking? He certainly didn't want anyone else finding it. It was for his lady only, besides the fact that it was rather expensive. Adrien knew very few things about Ladybug, so he'd just picked out something he thought she'd like. All girls like it, right? Why should Ladybug be any different?

Adrien looked around, and right in the corner, at about knee level, was a gap, where someone had taken a book out. He slipped the package inside and stood, dusting off his hands. Smiling down at it, he realised that his lady would be the next one to see it, in her civilian form! Hopefully she'd heard of him, and understood how the gift represented him. The bell rang, and Adrien jogged out of the library. When he opened the door of his classroom, the lesson had already begun. _Now I know what Mari always feels like_ , Adrien thought as he took his seat. Marinette gave him a sympathetic smile and he smiled back. She blushed and looked away. Adrien smiled even further. She really was funny.

Never in his whole life had he wanted a day to go more quickly. Because tonight, he would get a clue.

Marinette watched as Adrien arrived late. She gave him a small smile, and to her surprise, he returned it. She felt her face heating up, and turned away quickly. _I wonder what he was doing_ , she thought absent mindedly. Marinette glanced down at her bag. She could see, just peeking out from under her maths book, a card. Marinette had thought long and hard about what to give Chat. She didn't want to be too obvious and give him some piece of clothing she'd designed. Most of the children in their age group knew she designed clothing. Instead, she had chosen something very personal, that she knew Chat would keep. Marinette couldn't help a smile as she though about how confused Chat would be when he found it. Her gift could be interpreted several different ways, and she was interested to see what he had chosen. Marinette didn't even know if she'd see him before, and she was worried that even after the clue, she would have no idea who he was. What if it was a random picture? Or a flower? Or something plain weird? She sighed, sitting back in her chair. Lunch time couldn't come soon enough.

"Come on, girl! What is more important than this? The Ladyblog's latest video is the coolest one by far, and I know you haven't seen it!" Alya was trying to show Marinette a video on her phone, and Marinette was anxiously looking for a way out. If she watched one video, it would turn into two, then three, and before she knew it, there wouldn't be time to go to the library and find Chat's clue. She wanted to be able to think about the clue, not just see it and then have to rush off to class.

"Alya, I have to go to the library!"

"Mari, why? You can do that afterwards! We've got ten minutes!"

Adrien, who was walking past, saw Marinette's distress.

"Alya! It's okay, she's tutoring me in Chinese in the library! Come on, Mari, we've only got a few minutes, and I need help with a couple of verbs." He grabbed Marinette's hand, and Alya at once left off pestering her.

"Girl, why didn't you say so in the first place?" she asked. "Go on, I'll see you in class!"

Adrien dragged Marinette into the library, and she smiled at him, for once not blushing or stuttering.

"Thanks Adrien. I really needed help there. Alya's great, but I actually have to do some stuff to do."  
"No problem," Adrien replied, letting go of her hand. "But I do need help with this one word. I'm reading this book for Chinese, but I can't work out this word. It's a layman's term, because it's I can't find it in any official books, so can you tell me what it means? Your mother is Chinese, isn't she?"

Marinette nodded. "Sure, let me take a look." She took the book he was holding and studied the word. "Um..." she hesitated, looking up at him. "It means..." She blushed looked down. "It means Iloveyou," she blurted out, and Adrien frowned.

"Sorry, what was that again?" Marinette cleared her throat and tried again.

"It means 'I love you' but it's sweet romantic love, rather than deep, passionate love. It's not as commonly used as the other one, which is why you couldn't find it."

Marinette could feel herself blushing furiously, but Adrien apparently didn't notice.

"Thanks Mari! You're a life saver!" He grinned at her and set the book on a table and sat down. "In future, I will come straight to you with words I don't understand!"

Marinette smiled sweetly, the blush having faded to a very cute pink. "Feel free. I'm happy to help you!" She walked away towards the back of the library and Adrien watched her go. He felt a small twinge of guilt. Adrien was fluent in Chinese, and of course he knew what that word meant. But Mari was undeniably cute, and he wanted to see her try to explain it. He frowned. Was he betraying Ladybug by thinking about Mari? He shook the though away. His lady liked someone else anyway. She'd said so. Plagg zipped out of his bag.

"Adrien and Mari, sitting in a tree.. K-I-S-S-I-N-" He broke off as Adrien furiously snatched at him.

"Plagg, I love Ladybug! Marinette's just a friend!" Plagg floated just out of reach.

"Yeah yeah, lover-boy, because that's how friends look at each other. Come on, Ladybug likes someone else anyway! You should move on!" The bell rang, and Adrien scooped Plagg into his bag.

"Marinette!" he called, "Are you coming?" Adrien heard her muffled reply.

"Yeah, go without me! I'm almost done!"

He smiled. Marinette...

Marinette almost ran around to the corner of the library. Tikki flew out of her purse, munching a cookie. "Tikki, he wanted my help! And he held my hand!" Tikki giggled as Marinette danced around with joy.

"Marinette, that's really exciting, but we have to get the clue before lunch is over!"

Marinette stopped abruptly. "That's right!" Tikki, help me look," she said, searching around. Tikki flew to the top shelf and inspected the row of books. Marinette frowned.

"Surely he wouldn't put it on the top shelf?" she asked. Tikki shrugged.

"You never know. He is pretty tall, and he may not realise that it's out of your reach."

Marinette opened her mouth to reply, but her eye caught sight of a brown paper package, placed in the shelf at knee level.

"Tikki, I think I've found it!" Carefully, she pulled out the square parcel and replaced it with her own. Tikki flew down to look too.

"What are you waiting for Marinette? Open it!" Tikki looked at Marinette's excited face, and together they knelt on the ground with the clue between them.

Marinette looked back at Tikki with a scared expression. "Tikki, are we doing the wrong thing by giving each other clues? What if he's not, you know..." she waved her hand, searching for the right word, "Chat-like? I'm not Ladybug without the mask, so what if he's totally different?"

Tikki patter her hand comfortingly. "I think it's the right time to reveal your identities, but you are still Ladybug, even without the mask." Tikki smiled. "You know that Chat can be trusted. You have to trust his civilian side as well."

Tikki continued to smile, but inside she was coming as close to panic as a kwami would get. _Why can I hear Plagg?_ She thought frantically _. Sure, Adrien is Plagg's Chosen, but it's plain stupid to be talking in the middle of a quiet library!_ Then she sighed _. Plagg wouldn't change. And maybe if Marinette finds him, it could be better. Then both children will know each other's identities, and there will be no more of... this,_ she though, looking into Marinette's scared eyes. As if to urge her onward, Tikki flew down and tugged at some of the string on the parcel. Marinette slowly untied the string and the paper fell away, to reveal a simple, white cardboard box, with... Gabriel Agreste's logo on it? But before she could do anything else, the bell rang. She heard Adrien's voice.

"Marinette! Are you coming?"

"Um, yeah, go without me! I'm almost done!" she called out hurriedly. She heard the library door close, and breathed a sigh of relief. If Adrien had come to find her, who knows what he could of thought. Marinette looked back down towards the box and recognised the logo. She'd seen it before, on a poster! Adrien had been advertising it... but that's all she could remember. What the product was, she had no idea. She smiled to herself. Way to go, Mari, you remember that your crush advertised it, but you can't remember what it is.

Sliding her fingers underneath it the cardboard, Marinette opened the box and drew out the item inside. She gasped.

Surely it couldn't be... perfume?

 **And that is all! Thanks for reading, you have no idea how much it means to me... Next time, we will find out what Mari gives Chat! Also if you don't remember, there was a poster featured in one of the episodes with Adrien advertising perfume, so that's where his clue comes from! I tried to pick un-obvious things, so that they wouldn't guess immediately. What do you think Mari will give? Oooo, the suspense! (Jk I can't write suspense... hopefully I will be able to by the end of this story:)**

 **Please review!**

 **~The Dancing Princess**


	3. Marinette's Clue

**So, firstly, WOW. I did not expect so many people to read my story, let alone follow and favourite! YOU GUYS HAVE MADE MY ENTIRE WEEK! You have no idea how much this means to me, and I may or may not have gone and read a whole pile of you guys profiles and stories... Hopefully that's not creepy, but I am so thankful for everyone who's taken the time to read my story!**

 **Thank you so much, especially to BellaBeau91, sweetbbyfox, redarrowissupercool, MissDragonGirl, Guest and IZZY! They all reviewed and it was so sweet, I really loved to hear from them! Also thank you so much sweetbbyfox for the suggestion, we are thinking on the same line here! Yay! I will definitely use that!**

 **Okay! Now I've rambled on too much... Here is the story and I REALLY hope you enjoy it!**

 **~The Dancing Princess**

 **Also, I don't own Miraculous Ladybug or any of the characters. Sadly.**

Marinette raced out of the library. Late, late, always late, she thought to herself. But this time, she was confused. As Marinette dreamed her way through the afternoon classes, she wondered what on earth the perfume was supposed to mean. Perhaps Chat really liked roses, which was the scent. Or maybe he was really into perfumes and smells. She had no idea. Marinette sighed. The only person who really sprang to mind when she looked at it was Adrien. He was distracting her! She couldn't think of anyone else. Resolutely, she pushed Adrien to a separate corner of her mind and looked around. Now, let's start with the boys in my class.. Marinette thought, running her eyes over the boys around her. Then she shook her head. None of them were anything like Chat Noir. Except Adrien... they were both smart and clever and handsome and brave and... Marinette frowned.

 _Stop thinking about Adrien!_ She scolded herself. _You're getting distracted!_

But her mind constantly wandered to him, and so did her eyes. Thus, when the afternoon classes were finally over, she couldn't help but notice how he bolted out of the room like a scared rabbit. _Oh well. I guess he has a shoot_ , Marinette thought. _I'll try and say hello tomorrow._

Meanwhile, Adrien dashed into the library, his expression gleeful and expectant. He already had a list of everyone in the school, and had crossed out all the boys. Now, judging by the clue, he hoped to eliminate about half of the girls. Then he shrugged ruefully. He actually already had. Adrien might not know who Ladybug was, but he knew for sure that she wasn't Chloe or Alix or Sabrina or Juleka or Rose or... he forced his mind back to the present. Ladybug was petite, and the suit didn't change her body type, so he knew what hight he was looking for. She had dark hair, and was brave and trustworthy. She stood up for the right thing and never let anything stop her. Ladybug...

Plagg giggled at him as he stood, a dreamy expression on his face, in the corner of the library. Adrien frowned at him, then his face lit up as he walked to the spot where he'd left his gift. As he knelt to look at it, his heart began to pound. This clue would lead his to Ladybug's true identity! He slid his hand around the item and pulled it out of the shelf.

It was a hard, square shaped package, quite thin, almost like a...

Adrien open the package. He was right! It was a CD case... a Jagged Stone CD! Ladybug liked Jagged Stone too?

Then he peered more closely at it. He already had this CD, but there was something different about this one. The cover.. it didn't have a bar-code on it, or any printed writing. It was literally just the image, but it looked exactly like the actual CD cover. How did Ladybug manage to get the writing and stuff off the cover? He opened the CD and pulled out the cover. It wasn't the usual shiny, plastic material, but a piece of ordinary paper. How odd. Adrien looked closely. Were they... Yes! It was an original piece! There were indents from the pen marks on the paper. The cover had been drawn! Inspecting it with great scrutiny, Adrien couldn't work it out. How could Ladybug have gotten hold of the original cover art? Who had done that art?

He pondered all the way home. The Gorilla seemed to sense that something was on his mind, but as usual, he said nothing.

When Adrien at last reached his bedroom, he grabbed his CD and compared the two. It was an exact copy. He turned it over, and mentally face palmed. Of course! Marinette had done that cover art! Her signature was on the cover, in her usual loopy writing. Marinette.

But how had Ladybug gotten the art from Marinette? It didn't make sense. But surely... He pulled out his list and ran his finger down the names until he got to Marinette. Her name wasn't crossed out. So...

Her hair was dark, she wore the two pigtails exactly like Ladybug, she had beautiful blue eyes like Ladybug, she was the right hight, she was brave and stood up for what she believed in... Could Marinette be Ladybug?

Marinette, who was always so sweet, and kind, and could barely say a word to him...

Adrien pulled at his blond locks in despair. He was 60% sure Marinette was Ladybug. It lined up so perfectly.

But why had she given him such an obvious clue? She was so worried about her identity, so why give him something she knew would give her away?

Then it hit him, like a punch in the gut.

She didn't even consider that he could be Chat Noir. Marinette knew that she'd signed Adrien's CD, so she knew that Adrien knew she'd designed the cover. So when she'd given him the CD, Marinette had though it was subtle, because only Adrien, Nino and Alya knew she'd done the art. And that meant that she had absolutely no clue that he was Chat Noir.

Adrien frowned. That went both ways too, he realised. Before today, he had no idea that the bold and brave Ladybug was also Marinette... sweet, kind, cute, thoughtful, diligent, creative, amazing... he smiled dreamily. He'd had no idea how much he'd liked Marinette until now. But really, what was there not to like?

Now there was only one thing that could confirm his suspicions that she was Ladybug. If she wore the perfume. The rose scent he'd given her wasn't actually available to the public yet, although it was about to be released. So Marinette was the only girl outside of the testers and the Agreste family that had it. The very first bottle was Marinette's. He was sure she'd seen the posters of him advertising it; they were all around the city. But he wasn't sure if she knew just how special the bottle was. The very, very first. Adrien had diligently asked his father for it, and to his surprise, Gabriel had agreed to let him have it, so long as he did a few extra shoots next week. It was a small price to pay.

Because Adrien had channelled his inner Chat Noir, to come up with this plan. So even if Ladybug's clue gave him no hints, he would simply wait until he smelt roses around a girl. Then, then he would know.

The only problem would be if Ladybug didn't wear it. _But,_ he though confidently, _who wouldn't wear a perfume like that?_ Besides, he knew who he would be around. It looked like he would be spending the next day around Marinette. And if he smelt roses? His suspicion would be correct. Adrien just hoped she would wear it.

Marinette had a problem. She never wore perfume.

 **Mwahahahaha! Poor Adrien! And Marinette is so dense! But I love her so much I can't be mean much longer... the reveal is coming soon! Maybe in the fifth chapter... I'm also working on two other stories at the moment, so please keep an eye out for them! I will probably post the one-shot on Valentines Day (along with the rest of the world, because that's what practically everyone is doing). But nevertheless, I too will jump on the bandwagon! It will be full of fluff about our two favourite characters... there will also be some AlyaxNino fluff because I've kinda ignored them in this story. So please read that.**

 **Hope you liked the story! It was just a short chapter this time, but I will try to make up for it in the next chapter (If I am not swamped with homework).**

 **Please review! Thank you so much for reading! :D**

 **~The Dancing Princess**


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